Kingdom Hearts: Paradox's Dissonance
by Captain Vulcan
Summary: The tale of Kingdom Hearts set in the ultimate AU fashion! The approaching nightmare of eternal darkness is on the rise and the worlds desperately need a new hero.Enter Sora.
1. Prologue

I really don't know why, but here's my attempt at a Kingdom Hearts fan-fiction. A majority of the elements in the story is AU and yet I'll try my best to retain the original flow of the KH legacy. Obviously, I do not own any of the characters in this story. They are owned by Square Enix and Disney respectively. Plus the same can be said for many of guest characters that are going to appear here besides those of the said companies. I certainly hope that you can dig this and hit me back with some feedback.

**KINGDOM HEARTS**

**PARADOX'S DISSONANCE **

**PROLOGUE**

Darkness...

What is it about it that induces such an illogical reaction? It can easily terrify small children and it can even intimidate the most stern of adults. There's an old saying that goes along the line of 'There's nothing to fear but fear itself.' That, of course, is much easier said than done. To many, fear is synonymous to darkness. Darkness is often synonymous to the unknown. It is pretty much normal to fear the unknown.

Fear is perhaps the most logical of emotions after all...

Darkness is a fragment of one's worse nightmares-- that much for sure. There is more to darkness than merely just being the opposite of light. Something... lurks in the dark and unfortunately, no one has yet to develop the courage to discover what it is. It is a major part of our lives. Why should we fear it? Everyone is destined to encounter this entity in life... and even death.

Darkness is just as eternal as light.

'**_Awaken, Sora...'_**

It was all too real, and yet, unfathomable. "Who's there!"

He was in the middle of nowhere and he knew it. Darkness reigned as far as his eyes could see. Why was he in such an ominous place? How did he get here? This realm was very disturbing to him and he doubt that he could gain any answers being idle here. This... mass of shadows was the very meaning of the term 'otherworldly'. It was so dark here that it didn't make sense. What's up with this paradox?

The mystery heeded him again, '**_Sora...'_ **

"Where am I?" He said. "What's going on?"

'**_It is almost time, Sora...'_**

The frightened youth wanted answers. "It's almost time? For what?"

A huge altar appeared before him in the abyss. '**_Step forward, Sora...'_**

The boy did so, hoping that the gesture could gain an explanation. He couldn't take being at such an eerie place. "I... don't understand. Am I dead or something?"

'**_It is the Awakening, Sora. You must awaken...'_**

"Huhn?"

'**_Wake up...'_**

"Sora! Wake up!"

The sudden sting of freezing cold water stirred Sora wide awake, alarmed. "AAH! THAT COLD!"

"Aw c'mon, you're going to be late for school." A woman chided with a large bucket in her hands. She was rather pretty, with short brown hair and deep blue eyes. The woman could easily be mistaken for Sora's older sister. "This is the beginning of the last week of school, Sora. It's not quite that time to relax just yet." She had a mischievous smirk on her face. "I'll go on ahead and make you some breakfast."

Sora yawned and scratched his head. "Thanks, mom. I needed that."

"I'll be making your favorite this morning too: strawberry waffles and omelets with bell peppers." His mother informed him. "Now get on up and get ready for school." She spun on her heels and heads for the room door. "Just so you know, you have a little over forty-five minutes before school starts."

"Right." Sora hopped up off his bed and went to his dresser. He detached a cell phone from it's power supply on top of the dresser. "Got to make sure that Kai's awake too." He grinned to himself. "That girl just doesn't even believe in alarms."

He activated the speed dial function and there was an answer seconds later. "Yes Sora, I'm up already." Came a groggy voice.

He chuckled. "Good. Because this is the beginning of the end of our freshman year and we're going to have to start things off right. C'mon now, only five days to go."

Kairi chuckled as well. "Yeah, we have a lot to look forward to this week."

"Alright then, I'll see you in a few." He end the phone call and closed the device. The dream he had however, was still on his mind but he knew it was best not to dwell on it. _It's that dream again. I wonder what's the meaning of it... oh well. It's best to forget all about it and get prepared for school._

After fifteen minutes of readying himself for school (which consisted of teeth brushing, showering, and pressing school clothes) Sora arrived in the kitchen with an outfit consisting of brown cargo shorts, a white tee in a sleeveless blue sweatshirt and mustard colored low-top boots. There was a fresh plate of breakfast already prepared for him. He immediately hopped to his seat at the table, mouth practically watering. "Hey mom, you did made my favorite this morning. And here I thought that you was just joking."

Sora's mother diverted her attention from the weather forecast on the television set. "Hmm? Oh right, I did, didn't I? I just thought that it'll help you become more prepped up for the day. You guys are taking finals starting today, right?" She noticed how fast Sora was grubbing down his breakfast. "Jeez, Sora, you're going to hurt yourself eating that fast." She giggled. "That food isn't going anywhere, boy."

Sora gazed up at his mother from his plate, a mouthful of omelet. "Hwah?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full, dear."

Sora grabbed his glass of grape juice and gulped it down along with his food. "Sorry about that."

"As I was saying, are you starting on your finals today?" She inquired again.

"Nope. The finals begin on hump-day." Sora replied. "Which is pretty cool because we have today and tomorrow to study for them."

"Sounds good." She glanced back at the television. "Wow! This is going to be a wonderful week. The forecast says it is going to be clear and sunny for the entire week." She looks back at her son enthusiastically. "Doesn't that just puts you in a good mood?"

"If you say so, mom." Sora replied curtly, finding his mother's unusually sweet voice unsettling.

"Well then, I guess that you should be on your way." She told Sora, acknowledging that he finished another breakfast in record time. "Are you applying for a summer job again this year?"

"Yeah mom. It's on the top of my priority list." He rose from his seat and place his empty dish in the sink and cleansed it. "Alrighty mom, I'll see you later." He dried his hands and went over to kiss his mother on the cheek and gathered his back pack.

"Have a nice day, Sora." She told her sprinting son. "And learn something!"

Once outside and down the street, Sora took in the scenery. He's been doing this for as long as he could remember and he never gets tired of it. Beautiful Destiny Island... with it's lush greenery, undulating hills, bustling metropolis and a beautiful ocean view, Sora loves his homeland. His mother was right, it was a beautiful day and that fact enhanced the already nature allure of Destiny Island.

"Sora, you're spacing out on me again." Came a feminine voice. "Just like you did yesterday."

"Oh, Kairi. Man, did you really have to creep up on me like that?" Sora joked.

"Hey, I admit, I never get tired of the environment myself but you don't see me spacing out." Kairi laughed. "So? Are you ready to get this week over with?"

"I was ready every since I started my freshman year."

"Let's do it. Class starts in twenty." She went on ahead down the street, glancing at the seagulls every once and a while. She was wearing a white button blouse and a jean skirt along with white and blue sneakers on her feet. As they were walking down a sloped street, a strange notion emerged on Kairi's mind. "Say Sora, I wonder if our homeroom teacher's any different now since she has been teaching here at the beginning of the school term?"

Sora glanced at the red haired girl with a raised brow. "Huh? Where that came from, Kai? What do you mean Ms. Branford's any different?"

"Well, I know this is her very first school term teaching and many of us sort of thought that she was... you know, strange." Kairi insinuated.

"Humph." Sora scoffed. "I kinda figured that much. She let's us call her by her first name for crying out loud. I find that a little weird." He began impersonating a female's student voice. "'Oh Ms. Terra, I need to take a trip to the restroom. I had a lot of juice.'"

Kairi chuckled. "Now that was the worst Selphie impersonation I've heard in a long time." She regained her subject afterwards. "Yeah, but seriously, Terra's a real good teacher. She's willing to go the extra distance when her students are struggling, she has a great sense of humor, she hardly gives out homework... but, her eyes... she always seems so... sad."

Sora stopped in his tracks, resting his right foot on a fire hydrant. "What? You're feeling sentimental or something?"

"No, that isn't the case, Sora." The fifteen year old girl stated seriously. "It's just that... Terra has this sort of air of sadness that lingers in her eyes. It's like she's disconnected from the world-- not entirely in sync with reality."

"Oh, is that it?" Sora narrowed his eyes. "Riku thinks that she's the prettiest thing that he has ever seen. Yeah, she's pretty all right-- pretty weird."

"Hmm, you could be right about that." Kairi nodded. "I've never seen anyone so fascinated with the cosmos in all my life. The funny thing is she isn't even a science teacher. You remember last week when she was anticipating the meteor showers? It was almost as if she was counting on something."

"Oh... kay, so Terra's maybe a little too deep for us at times." Sora rolled his eyes. "But isn't it always the case with most school teachers?"

"Well yeah, but--"

"Good morning, Sora, Kairi. How do you do?" A female's voice greeted.

Face becoming noticeably brighter, Sora was fascinated at the appearance of the girl that was leaving her yard to meet them. "Oh man. This is my favorite part of walking to school."

Kairi sighed. "Oh boy, let the mindlessness begin."

The said girl stood in front of them, towering over them by inches. "You guys doing well this morning?" The girl was a gorgeous brunette of eighteen years of age. Her soft brown eyes and refined accent simply made Sora's heart melt. She was decked out in a school uniform fitting for a private school; a creme colored long sleeved blouse that was in a vest and a tan colored miniskirt and her amazing physique made the garbs all the more alluring.

"Fine... uh... we're doing just fine, Shizuru." Sora droned in a lustful fashion.

"Hey, Shizuru." Kairi simply greeted, hiding jealousy.

Shizuru Viola smiled warmly at her younger friends. "I'm doing good. In fact, I'm just as excited as you guys are. It's the final week for our school as well. You guys coming to the graduation?"

"Yes! We will undoubtedly be there, Shizuru!" Sora blurted out.

"Yeah, we will." Kairi said. "We wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Okay then." Shizuru looked very delighted. "I'll be sure that you guys receive an invitation from me sometimes today." She leaned down a bit and pinched Sora's cheeks. "You two be good, now. And please do well on your finals. I would like to see what your grades are."

"Uh-huh..."

"Yes. We will definitely ace our finals." Sora declared, looking somewhat wolfish somehow. "We will make A plus-plus on our finals. Isn't that right, Kairi?"

"Right..."

"Well, that settles that. I'll catch you guys later." Shizuru waved and ambled off in the direction of her school.

Sora watched the older girl walking down the street with such a distinguished gait. Just taking a look at the beautiful Viola girl simply made his day. "Aw man... that girl is something else." He sighed dreamingly with a blush. "I'll never get tired of that. Simply irresistible."

There was a pout on Kairi's face. "You're so helpless, Sora. What does she got that I haven't?"

Sora whirled back to reality-- reality which was Kairi. He didn't just hear what he thought he heard from her. "Kai, are you serious? Did you just say that?" He registered the look on Kairi's face. "You know... I can fill a phone book on that subject."

"You got jokes, huh wolf-boy?" Kairi responded to him disapprovingly. "C'mon now, let's be on our way to school."

Sora scratched his head innocently. "Wolf-boy?" There was a pause before he followed his friend down the street. "Right..." He couldn't help it. It was just his hormones talking.

**KINGDOM HEARTS**

"I can tell that we're going to go through some serious brain pain this week." A spiky blonde youth groaned as he approached the school campus with his buddies. "Say, Wakka, you're a junior right? So how much are they going to give us to study?"

An older ginger hair boy replied to the younger one. "Oh, trust me, Tidus. You're going to receive more than enough of your share of notes. When it comes to the final, high school's a completely different ballgame. You are prepared to lose a little sleep, yeah?"

Tidus' widened his eyes. "Dang! It's that bad? You can't be serious!"

"As serious as a heart-attack."

"You simply can't believe everything you hear, Tidus." A rather perky brunette chirped. "For one thing, Wakka could be over exaggerating about it."

"Whatever rolls your boat, Selphie." Wakka grinned. "The finals aren't no joke."

Selphie wrapped her arm around Tidus' neck, chuckling and making him blush. "Hmm? You don't say, eh? Well with a little generous time spent studying for these things then passing the finals should be a breeze." She applied pressure on Tidus' neck. "Right, Tidus?"

"That's what I'm afraid of." Tidus said.

"Hey." Wakka said, pointing to a figure on top of Destiny High School left wing's roof. "Isn't that your homeroom teacher?"

Tidus looked up to where the older boy was pointing at. "Huh?" He squinted. "I don't see her."

"Tidus, you read way to many comic books in the dark. Get a closer look if you can't see her." Selphie chided, gazing in the said direction. "Hey, that is Ms. Branford. What is she doing up there, anyway?"

"Man... that woman IS strange." Wakka wondered.

"What? You're tripping, Wakka." Selphie hit him on the shoulder. "That's what makes her so cool."

Wakka rubbed his now aching arm. "Ouch. You hit hard for somebody so small, Selphie."

"What was that?"

"That's a pretty nice tune." Tidus noticed the sounds of a flute. "It sounds peaceful and yet... kinda sad."

"Now that you think about it," Selphie sniffed. "It can induce a few tears."

Wakka clicked his tongue. "Women... You and your sensitivity."

"Wakka, you jerk. Just listen real closely to that tune she's playing. It's... making me..." Her eyes were now glossy. "Excuse me but I think that I have something in my eye." She took a moment to search through her backpack and fished out a box of tissue. "See..." She sniffed. "I never leave home without it."

"I call this piece, 'The Awakening'..."

Tidus and Wakka raised their brows simultaneously. "The Awakening?"

"It's just a little tune that I've been holding off in my mind every since I was a little girl." Said Ms. Branford. She withdrew her flute and gazed down at the three students from the roof. The small smile on her face seemed slightly odd on her naturally sad looking face. "Good morning, you three. I see that you liked it, correct?"

Selphie simply nodded, trying to hide her face behind the tissue.

"It was stirring, Ms. Branford." A male's voice praised. "It's really something to appreciate."

Terra gasped... as if she sensed a presence but she quickly recovered. "Oh, it's you."

"Where did you come from?" Tidus was surprised by the male's sudden appearance as well. "You always seem to creep up on people, Riku. And it is not cool."

The silver haired boy only joked around with him. "Sorry about that. Didn't mean to alarm you. No worries, right?"

"You know Riku, the element of surprise that you got going on for yourself can really be a big advantage on the field." Said Wakka, impressed. "Are you sure that you won't be joining the team this summer?"

"Hey, I'll definitely think about it." Riku smiled.

Selphie was practically gushing. "Intelligence, good looks, and athletic, you have it all, Riku." Hearts were dancing in her eyes. "You wanna go out and take a walk in the park with me today?"

"That's a bet." Riku gave her the thumbs up.

"It's almost time, guys." Terra announced, surprising them due to the fact that she now stood before them. "Shouldn't you four be heading to your homerooms?"

"Oh you're right." Selphie gasped. "Let's be on our merry little way, guys. We've only have two minutes till." Her and her companions rushed off into the school hall, trying to avoid being tardy for the homeroom hour.

The feeling unease faded around Terra. That Riku was eccentric. It's like his generous persona is hiding something but Terra couldn't put her finger on it. Then again, maybe she does. Every since the meteor shower she could sense something about him. What could it mean? _That young man..._

"COMING THROUGH!"

"WATCH OUT, WE'RE IN A HURRY!"

With the students suddenly making space and the pattering of quick footsteps that's comparable to a raging stampede, Terra knew better. She quickly hopped out the way as the two forces sped by here. She smiled at their burlesque entrance. _Trust those two to make a spectacle as usual. _She gazes at the heavens, contemplative. _It is almost time... Will they be ready for what is to come? This is definitely going to be a test that they're are never going to forget._

"Hey Miss Terra! Sorry I can't talk! Gotta go!" A spiky haired boy greeted frantically as he passed by. "I'm going to be late!"

"You better hurry, Zell." Terra humored. "Your homeroom teacher can be quite the grouch." With everyone now inside the building, Terra was now outside of Destiny High alone. _The time is near._ She thought with slight worry. _Can this world withstand what is to come? I pray that the next hero can save us all. But the real question is: will the next chosen be willing to do it?_

With no one else in sight, the school teacher turned and faced the school and vanished in motes of light. _Light and Darkness will once again clash... vying for supremacy. I hope that you are up for this..._

_...Sora..._

**END OF PROLOGUE**

**NEXT TIME ON PARADOX'S DISSONANCE**

A monster of a storm hits Destiny Island, causing confusion. Sora enters a bizarre dimension. The very same place that he has seen in his dreams. And what's up with a talking temperamental mallard and a maladroit dog-man thingy?

**THE AWAKENING**

**NOTE: **Just in case some of the younger readers wouldn't remember, Terra Branford was the main character of Final Fantasy VI (III three in the U.S.). And man, I have to tell you, that 'Awakening' theme of hers did used to get to me back in the days. Heh.. That lovely brunette, Shizuru Viola, is a character from a recent anime series by Sunrise called Mai-HiME, which is an immensely popular in Japan. In fact, it's so popular there's even an ongoing spin-off of the show called Mai-Otome. Terra and Shizuru are here for a reason, mind you. They have a very significant role in this story. Oh, and you can believe that Donald and Goofy are going to be in this. All in due time, my friends.


	2. The Awakening

**KINGDOM HEARTS**

**PARADOX'S DISSONANCE**

**CHAPTER 1**

**THE AWAKENING**

"Lunch break!" Sora exclaimed enthusiastically while rushing out the classroom. "Man, and it's about time too. I just knew that the lecture is going to take forever." He was among the first students that nearly dozed off to sleep in today's history class. Well... he's also among one of the first to jump up out of class when that bell rang. "I'm starving."

Kairi exited the room moments later, taking her time. "You were asleep with your eyes wide open, Sora" She quipped, handing him some sheets of paper. "Well, these are the materials that we going to have to study. Teach said that a majority of it is going to be on the test."

Sora packed the notes in his backpack. "Thanks, Kai. You're a life saver. I'm pretty sure that I've missed out on a lot of notes."

"Yeah, you did." Kairi giggled. "But what are friends for? You would have done the same thing." That line was all well and good, but Sora didn't seem to be paying any attention to Kairi at the moment. "Hey? Are you listening to me?" The boy's gaze was currently fixated on someone else. "Ah..." She confirmed in realization. "You're envying Riku again, huh?"

Sora snapped a glare at her. "Envy's got nothing to do with this. You pretty much got the wrong impression, Kai. Just because Riku's surrounded by... by..." He trailed off with a stammer, gazing at a small group of very attractive girls that were currently conversing with the said sophomore. The girls seem to be having a pretty good time talking to him, too. And half of the group was older than Riku as well. "How does he do that?"

"It's called 'being yourself', green eyes." Kairi remarked. "You shouldn't be jealous of your life long friend like that."

Sora sighed. "Man... I know that he's my buddy but I think that he's practically good at everything. He's athletic, he's pretty smart, he makes good grades and it's likely that he will graduate at the top of his class." He saw a girl blushed and giggle at Riku's grin. "Ugh, plus he's the divine gift to women. The girls absolutely adore him."

"Whoa, you got it bad." Kairi patted his shoulder.

Riku skewed his gaze over the blushing faces of his fan club and spotted his best friend. "Hey Sora, you're just the guy I was looking for. Would you mind coming over here for a sec?"

"Who? Me?" Sora was a little surprised.

"Yeah, someone over here is pretty interested in you. Why don't you come over here so you two get acquainted." He made a cute younger girl noticeable by pointing at her.

Sora cracked a grin. "Hey, now we're talking!"

"Hey!" Kairi demanded attention. "What are you two up to?"

Just as Sora was about to approach Riku and the group of girls, Zell called out to him. "Yo, how bout we take a beeline to the cafeteria and grab ourselves a big platter of chilidogs, Sora?"

Sora stopped a little irritated and regarded the older boy. "Can't you see that I'm a little busy, Zell?"

The blonde senior looked at him curiously. "What do you mean, man? Yeah, you're busy shooting off to the cafeteria that's all I know."

"No, not right now." Sora replied, anxious. "You see, there's a girl over there that wants to get to know me."

"Sora! Selphie over here is getting impatient!" Riku advertised.

"What?" The said brunette exclaimed in surprise. "Don't play any games like that, Riku!"

Sora frowned. "Selphie? Ugh!"

"What's that supposed to mean, huh?" Selphie pouted and balled her fist at her hips. "I'm not cute enough for ya?" After that, she blushed in realization. "Ack! Hee hee... forget I said that."

"What I'd tell ya." Zell nodded. "It was about nothing."

"And he was pretty much in a hurry to get over there." Kairi giggled with her arms crossed over her chest. "C'mon Sora, we need to be on our way. We're going to miss out on the food that's fresh."

Sora sighed and took another glance at Riku. "I'll see you in the cafeteria, man. Got to go and get some grub, you know?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah, see you there, bud."

Meanwhile, inside the cafeteria, Tidus and Wakka had already occupied a small round table. Wakka was pretty much done with his meal because he was laid back in his chair. Tidus was drinking down a bottle of fruit punch and he seems to be dissatisfied with his food. "That really left a nasty taste in my mouth. Was the steak half cooked or burnt-- I couldn't tell."

"Chill out for a moment, Tidus." Wakka grinned with a toothpick. "Why won't you just go up to the bar and try something else, yea?"

"Yeah, you're probably right." Tidus considered. "Then again, I'm probably better off bringing my own lunch to school sometimes."

"Aw bother," Wakka waved dismissively, "you sound like a spoiled chick that's highly obsessed with her diet."

"Hey! Enough with the jokes Wakka!"

"What are you guys clowning about now?" Zell said as he sat at a neighboring table along with Kairi and Sora. "Don't tell me that it's the food again."

"Yeah, it's the food." Tidus scoffed, mean-mugging at the smoked steak before him. "Maybe my taste buds just isn't agreeing with this."

"What are you talking about, Tidus? It couldn't be that bad." Kairi sampled a bite of the said meat on her tray. She was seemingly satisfied with the taste. "Umm... Yummy! It's not the food, it's your buds." But a moment later her face suddenly paled. "Ugh! Uh, excuse me for a second." With that she immediately opened her bottle of grape juice and downed the bottle in a single gulp.

"No, it's the steak." Sora could pretty much guess what the problem was. "It left a weird taste in my mouth too." He took a swig of his sports drink. "If anything, the best thing to do with the steaks are to toss them aside."

"There should have been hot dogs for lunch today." Zell grumbled.

Wakka couldn't believe what he was hearing. "C'mon guys, are we gonna whine about the steak for the rest of lunch period? Maybe you should all just go and get a salad or something. You can never go wrong with a simple garden dish and I'm sure that it is much better than hearing you guys moping about the steaks."

Kairi shrugged her shoulders with a sigh. "Might as well... I mean, do we have a choice? I don't want to go to my history class with an empty stomach."

Wakka nodded very approvingly, "Amen, sister, amen..."

Sora just had to laugh at that notion. "Ha! Salads are for sissies! I mean, c'mon! Who in--" His quick reflexes were very useful at a moment like this. He ducked a flying rib-eye just in the nick of time and the piece of meat made a collision on the wall in which it made a weird splat sound. "Whoa! What was that all about?"

The entire group was now well aware of what was about to happen. "This isn't going to be what I'm thinking it's going to be?" Tidus said cautiously, gripping his tray tight.

"ARGH!" A voice trilled at the other side of the canteen, obviously pissed. "Who threw that nasty gruel, huh?" The victim was Selphie, who was busy wiping off gravy off her face and growling like a provoked beast. The entire dining area became deathly quiet, attention drawn to the angry brunette. "Whoever done it really needs to grow up! If I just so happen to find out who did-- it's going to be on!"

Riku was right beside her, surveying the scene. "Well... whose idea was this?"

The silence of the entire place remained... until someone started tossing food again. That move initiated pure chaos in the canteen. Riku jumped over the salad bar and used it as a barricade against the maelstrom of unwanted food. Selphie simply squealed in surprised and took refuge underneath a table. In simple words, a war was torn out in the luncheon.

Sora hopped on his table, never the one to back down from a challenge. He pumped his fist in the air and with a roar, it was "FOOD FIGHT!"

"Sora, what do you think you're doing?" Kairi exclaimed from her hiding spot behind an artificial plant. "The superiors are going to think that you've started all this because of how you're playing war hero on the table like that!"

"Yes!" Sora successfully smashed a sophomore girl with a handful of pudding. "You just don't know what you're missing out on, Kai? Whoa!" He jumped over a flying tray. "Ha! That was a close one! Someone really tried to get me just now."

Yo Sora! I got your back!" Zell proclaimed. "I'll deliver it to em like a Green Beret." The spiky haired blonde used his tray as a shield and then he used it as a catapult to launch his meal like a deadly projectile. "I'm gonna make this war tough for em! They better step their game up if they wanna give me a struggle!"

Kairi couldn't believe that Zell, the oldest of the group of friends simply jumped in this ridiculous little 'war' like a child. "Dang! I cannot believe that Zell would join in too!"

"Whoo Hoo!" Shrieked Tidus, firing off his lunch as well. "You don't mess with the blitz-ball stars!"

"You're right about that, Tidus." Wakka grinned, chunking a grapefruit with ferocious force. "I guess they don't know what they're dealing with, yea?"

Kairi slapped her forehead in defeat. "All of you are crazy!"

"Wah!" Selphie's cry could be heard over the turmoil in the cafeteria. "My new shoes are ruined!" She bawled. "Smothered in overly greasy fried chicken!"

"C'mon!" Sora was still being rowdy on the table. "You all are making this far too easy for me! Aren't any of you even trying to hit me?"

Before the food fight could get even crazier, Terra and two more adults entered the diner just in the nick of time. "What in the world is going on here?" Terra demanded with her hands on her hips, obviously appalled. "What has gotten into all of you?"

The students instantly ended their food fight and stared at the three adults at the entrance nervously. "I hate to say this... but, it's the food, right?" A young male teacher asked hesitantly.

A loud chorus of 'yes!' filled the room.

Terra glanced at her co-worker in surprise. "Hey! What kind of question was that? There's been a display of inappropriate behavior in here and all you can ask about was the quality of the food?" Most of the students began snickering at her last statement but cut it short when Terra gazed at them seriously.

"Jeez, it could be the cause of the food fight." The male defended.

The third adult, a female, sighed in shame. "You need help..."

"What?"

"Ugh! Never mind him..." She set her sights back at the students. "Look at this mess. You all should be ashamed of yourselves."

"It's not fair! My clothes are a mess!" Selphie whined. "Man! I'll never get these stains off of my blouse!"

"Well I'm afraid that this is the least of your worries, young lady." Terra informed the brunette. "First of all, who started this nonsense?"

Many fingers pointed directly at Sora, Tidus, Wakka, and Zell. "What? Aw man, you guys know that we didn't start the food fight!" Sora glowered. "Stop snitching!"

"It doesn't matter." Terra was ready to get this over with. "You four, follow me to the office, now. And the rest of you, it's up to all of you to have this cafeteria clean by the end of the school day."

There was a collective groan throughout the canteen.

Terra stared back at the students. "Do I make myself clear?"

"**YES MA'AM!"**

Even though she was satisfied with the regained obedience, there wasn't even a hint of a smirk on the teal haired woman's face. "Good." She made a gesture to Sora and the gang. "Come now, you know what happens next."

**KINGDOM HEARTS**

"This is not cool." Tidus droned, cleaning the chalkboard. "I have to do this in every room in this wing." They were assigned to tidy up the place for two days as punishment. Fortunately for them they didn't have to attend to the entire campus.

"Oh well, it could have been worse." Zell sighed, sweeping the floor. "Principle Laguna could have gave us a whole week of doing this. Or he could have us retained in our current grade."

"C'mon guys, we all know that we didn't deserve this." Sora reassured, dusting off chalkboard erasers at the open window. "I know for a fact that we didn't start that hubbub in the lunchroom. Somebody else started it all, you know." His friends didn't seem to be relieve by that fact. They were so depressed about all of this. Detention just plain sucks.

"Speak for yourself." Wakka grumbled, heading his way too the restroom with sanitizing equipment. "When you're done could you mind giving your boy a hand in cleaning the girl's bathroom? I could really use some help with that. The girl's room is going to be a real pain."

Tidus thought of something mischievous. "Hey, speaking of girls, Sora have you notice how close you and Kairi had become lately?"

A discoloration appeared on Sora's face. Kairi and he did enjoyed walking back and forth from school everyday, he was certain about that. Kairi went home as soon as the last class was over, meaning that his commute home isn't going to be as fun as it used to. Was his long time friend really that important to him? "What do you mean by that, Tidus? We're just buds, nothing more."

The blonde sneered. "I dunno. You tell me. I just have to tell you that I notice... things about you two."

"Huh?" Sora creased his brow, catching on to what Tidus had said. "Aw man, so what? She gets sort of jealous when I notice other girls. That doesn't mean anything. It's just silly women's intuition or something like that."

"Then what does that tell you then?" Tidus insinuated, still snickering.

Zell cut the conversation short just in time. "Ah, just lay off oh him, Tidus. It's just between them. Anyway, I think Riku's gains the attention of most of the girls here. And I have to say that he does so with ease."

"It could be the fact that he almost look like a girl himself." Tidus shrugged, scrubbing the board harder this time. "Shoot, even girls from other schools have the hots for him."

"That's women for ya. That goes to show you how erratic they are." Wakka said.

"Can't live with them, can't live without them." Zell quoted.

Sora nodded as he tried to stifle a laugh. "You guys are crazy, man. If there were to be some girls in here right now then we're in trouble. They may beat us up to a point that our own mothers wouldn't recognize us. So try to be careful of what you say about them."

Tidus stiffened. "Whoa! What was that all about?"

"You're getting in touch with your feminine side, man?" Wakka wondered.

"There must be a girl that you're really interested in as of late?" Zell crosses his arms. "Could it be the that Viola broad that you've been ogling about since she moved here?"

"No, I'm not interested in her!" Sora blushed, defending himself. Every since young Viola and her family moved to Destiny Island months ago he simply couldn't get his mind off of her. "I just think she's cute!"

"Boy, what are you talking about?" Tidus exclaimed. "She isn't just cute-- she's hot!" He nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, if you're trying to get acquainted with her then you're way out of your league, pal. That's too much woman for you to handle."

"Hey!" Sora felt that he was insulted, glaring at Tidus. "You got jokes, huh?"

"C'mon guys. Give it a rest. You can resume your talk about girls when we're done with today's ordeal." Zell chided, getting back to sweeping the floor.

"Well, well, well... look what we have here." A voice said, somewhat in a mocking tone.

Tidus glances around the classroom, surprised by the sudden voice. "Who said that?"

Soar searched around the place for the owner of the voice as well. He soon spotted a white-haired boy sitting outside on a tree branch by the window. "There! Outside that window." He, Tidus, Zell, and Wakka made their way to the said pane.

The mischievous looking boy flashed them a grin. "Yo, it seems that you guys are really enjoying yourselves, no?"

Tidus went right on ahead and mean-mugged the boy. "Nagi! What the hell are you doing here, man?" Tidus never did like the mysterious white haired youth. Every since Nagi began attending school at Destiny High from where he came from Tidus just didn't get along with him. "You came to pick on us? Is that it?"

The devilish youth simply grinned and bit into the green apple in his hand. "You know--MUNCH-- you guys are repaying the debt-- MUNCH! MUNCH!-- for something that you didn't instigated."

Sora tilted his head to the left. "What do you mean?"

"I don't like where this is going, man..." Wakka muttered.

"Man! That's just like you-- always up to something." Tidus shook a fist at him.

Nagi appeared surprised, shocked that they couldn't comprehend what he meant. "You mean you don't know what happened this afternoon?"

Zell was catching on to what Nagi was insinuating. "Hey! It was you, wasn't it?"

"Bingo! We have a winner he folks!" Nagi applauded.

Sora's eyes widened in realization. "You were the one that started the food fight during lunch today?"

"Yep, and look where it gotten you guys." Nagi nodded in a self-aggrandizing way. "It has gotten you into janitorial labor for a few days. You guys are really the team players."

Tidus growled and took off his neck chain. "Alright! That's it! I'm hopping onto that branch to knock some brain cells from your know-it-all head!" He was apprehended by Wakka, whom held on to the back of his hood. "What the-- Wakka, lemme go, man!"

"It's not worth it, man. Let it go." Wakka reasoned.

"Yeah, Tidus, your friend is right." Nagi winked. "If we get into a fisticuffs, it certainly wouldn't rectify what happened earlier today. So it's best to listen to your friend."

"Yeah? I bet it'll definitely make me feel better once I knock the living crap out of you." Tidus challenged.

Sora was just as upset as Tidus was, but he kept his cool. "But Nagi, why?"

The question prompted the mischievous boy to laugh out loud. "It's just the way how I have fun, silly. What else is there?"

"Hey, you want me to show you my idea of having fun, Nagi?" Tidus cracked his knuckles. "I bet that you're gonna love it."

For a moment, Nagi narrowed his eyes, giving him a haunting, foreboding look. "Perhaps... some other time, Tidus. Maybe the opportunity shall arise one day. But anyway, it's best that I should get going. You guys have a nice day. See ya!" He was about to leave their sight but a thought came upon him. Smiling broadly he gazed at the eaten apple in his hand. "Hey Tidus, wouldn't you mind trashing this? After all, it is your job for today." He snickered, tossing him the apple.

"What the heck?" Tidus accidentally caught the apple.

"That's quite some reflexes you have there." Nagi commented. "They did say that you're quite the athlete. Keep it up, man. It can take you a long way." After that, he departed this time as he climbed down the tree.

"That fool thinks he's so cool..." Tidus muttered.

"Oh well... I guess that he had his fun for today." Sora shrugged. "C'mon guys, let's just get this place clean up so we can leave."

And with that, the four friends resumed their ordeal.

**KINGDOM HEARTS**

"Here's your blueberry shaved ice, Sora. Enjoy!" A forty-something man placed the said cold treat on the counter.

"Thanks Eddie. I'm sure that I will." Sora grinned, paying for the order.

"So where's your friend, Kai?" Eddie wondered. "You guys come here together all the time and you two are almost inseparable. You two must have had a fallout or something?"

"What?" Sora blushed. "It's nothing like that. I just had to stay after school today. Kai decided to walk home without me today. That's all."

"Ah... to be young again... and in love."

Sora nearly choked on the shaved ice when he heard that. "There's nothing going on between us! Kai's not my girlfriend!"

"You've could have fooled me." The shop owner grinned. "You two have been coming here together every since you could walk. I know these things, Sora."

Sora looked away, mentally scolding the man that was old enough to be his father. "I'm sorry, Ed. I think that you have the wrong impression about us."

"Wrong impression, huh?" The man leaned forward, contemplative. "Kairi's a very nice girl, Sora. I know that you two been friends all your life but I can tell that your friendship may grow deeper. That's just how it is sometimes, kid."

Sora surely respected Eddie, but he couldn't believe that he was observing them like that throughout the years. And why would he talk about a subject like this when Kairi's not around. "As I said before, we're just friends. I even had to tell my buddy Tidus that."

"Hmm..." Eddie rested his chin in his palm, surveying Sora's expression. "You have a heart, Sora. It will all come to you as you age. It'll come..."

Sora stared at the man skeptically. "Matters of the heart, huh?"

Eddie chuckled. "Well my boy, you'll just have to forgive me for prying. You still seem kind of young to understand what I'm saying. How old are you now?"

"Fifteen."

"Umm... never mind. Sorry to hold you up. I guess that I'll see you later." A idea came into his head. "Hey, next time you and Kai stop by, the treats are on the house. You hear me?"

There was a wide appreciative grin on Sora's face. "Sounds like a plan to me."

There was a sudden rumble in the skies. "Hmm... I'll be. It sounds like a storm's brewing." He gazes out over the sea, noticing approaching storm clouds. "But it can't be. This is odd indeed. The forecast says that it'll be clear skies for several days."

Sora looked in the direction of the sea as well. "Yeah, you're right. I guess the weather forecast had made a mistake this morning."

"What? Are you kidding? With all the latest tech in weather reading at the station, it's impossible not to pick up those storm clouds on the radar." Eddie scoffed.

Sora kept his gaze on the clouds, noticing that they were growing more ominous by the moment. " Whoa... and it's lightning like crazy over the sea too."

"It looks like that I'm going to have to close down my shop early today." Eddie decided. "Sora, I'm afraid that you may need to get going. You really don't want to get caught up in the upcoming downpour."

"Right. I guess that I see you around!" Sora said as he hurried down the street. Heading home as soon as possible wouldn't be a bad idea right about now.

Several minutes later, Sora was closer to his neighborhood by now. He certainly wished that he brought along his skateboard today. It was beginning to drizzle. "Man! It's raining already? I still have about a mile to go."

The once clear skies were now overcast with huge storm clouds. The calm before the storm was like a prelude before something terrible that was about to occur. Whoever worked as the weather forecaster at the news station needs to be shot. Then again, the sudden appearance of the storm clouds was unusual. Could it be a freak storm that's just so happen to waiting to unleash it's fury on Destiny Island. The clouds seem more intimidating than even hurricane clouds and it wasn't that season yet!

"Looks like I'm going to be dripping on my way home today." Sora said to himself, but he was suddenly caught by surprise when there was a parasol looming above his head. "Huh?"

"Ah. It would be most unfortunate for you if you were to catch a summer cold, no?" A pleasant voice drifted in his ears.

His face brightened and his eyes widened at the sight of her. "Shizuru?"

"I guess it's a good thing that I decided to bring along my parasol on a whim today." The brunette smiled that intoxicating smile of hers. "Perhaps we can call it a good omen."

Omen, fate, karma-- whatever it was, Sora didn't care. This girl was a life saver. "I'm just glad that you came here to lend me a hand in this weather."

"Glad to be of help, but I'm afraid that my parasol wouldn't bare against the downpour for long." Said Shizuru. "Would you like to accompany me to my home? You can hang around with me as the storm passes."

Did he just heard right? "You want me to stay over at your house?"

"Would it be a problem?" Shizuru inquired. "I'm not imposing on anything am I?"

Man, how could he turn down such an opportunity? "No! No problem at all! I would love to visit your crib while waiting out the storm!" Sora exclaimed jovially.

"Well then... let us be on our way, shall we. My home is just a block away." She began leading him on the way to her house. "Hang tight, I hate to see your nice hair get ruined by the rain."

"Okay." Sora smiled helplessly. She even smells good!

**KINGDOM HEARTS**

"Whoa...!"

"Welcome to my abode, Sora." Shizuru acknowledged, removing her school shoes from her feet. "Make yourself comfortable. Would you like some tea?"

Sora couldn't even form words in his mouth. He was still awestruck by the sheer regality of the mansion. He has seen the Viola estate countless times from the outside but he would never actually thought that he would ever see the place from inside. "Whoa..."

The Viola heiress giggled. "Hey, I get that all the time. It's embarrassing."

At the sound of her voice, Sora resurfaced back to reality. "Tea? Who said something about tea?"

"I was asking you would you like some." Shizuru answered.

"Oh-- yeah. That'll be great. I could use a drink right about now."

"Good deal. I'll have it ready in a few." She gestured towards the direction of the den. "Head over there and have a seat. There should be a lot of good shows on television this time of day. I'll be right there with the drinks."

"Uh... right." Sora nodded and made his way towards the den. Once he got there he was stricken by awe again when he laid his eyes on a huge tank for aquatic life, exotic plants adorning each corner, a spiraling staircase in the center of the room, and a theatre sized television set. _Talk about living the good life!_

"Guess it's time to make myself comfortable." Sora said to himself, grinning. He couldn't wait to feel the softness of the expensive sofas in the den. When he approached the largest one in the room, he noticed a small table with several pictures on top of it. "Hmm. What do we have here? Photos from her hometown, huh?"

The thing that Sora immediately noticed was that most of the photos was taken around a school environment. The second thing he noticed were the many attractive girls in a majority of the pictures which made him blush. Telling from the impression of the photos, Shizuru was quite popular and must have had many friends. There was some pictures of her taken with amorous male students and there were many more with her female peers. There was a picture of a cute girl with short ginger hair and indigo eyes, and the fact that she was well endowed made Sora blush even more.

With the said girl, there was a younger girl with spiky hair that made her look boyish, but cute never or less. Sora got the immediate impression that they were inseparable as the dark haired girl was always clinging to the orange haired girl. More photos... more girls. There were some photos of a lovely blonde girl with wavy hair... but to him, she always seems kind of out of it because she constantly had a mean mug on her face. She even come across Sora as fastidious just by looking at her expressions. _I definitely wouldn't want to be alone with her in a dark alley._

There was a nun, a group of class instructors, two girls that wear glasses-- one mischievous and the other seemingly shy. There was a girl with a bizarre hairstyle, and it made her look like an octopus somewhat. There was a alluring youth that constantly carries around a cellular phone. A raven haired girl that seem to be socially reclusive even grazed the faces of the photos. These people are definitely prominent in Shizuru memories.

"Ah. I see that you're scoping out the photos from my previous school." Came Shizuru's voice as she entered the den with a tray. "Your tea's ready."

"Thanks." Sora generously accepted the drink and gulped it down. "Yummy! Your tea's pretty good. It's definitely better than the tea that's in stock at the convenience stores. Could it be a recipe from your hometown?"

Shizuru seemed sad for a moment. "It's only a family recipe." She spoke, a little too softly-- even for her. " I remember back at my home... people always said that I make great tea. Where I came from... I..."

"Your hometown, your old friends... you miss them don't you?" Sora asked.

She clinched the hem of her skirt, introspective. "Yes Sora. Yes I do." She sighed. "It haven't even been half a year and I already miss everything about my home... everything."

"Why did your family decided to move here in the first place, Shizuru?"

"I guess..." She stood up from her place on a recliner, and made way to gaze out a glass door into the pouring rain. "I guess my parents did what they have to do, Sora."

"Man, that sounds a little rough." Sora sympathized, trying his best to avert his attention away from Shizuru's swaying hips as she walked. "If that would have happened to me, I probably wouldn't know what to do with myself."

Shizuru turned to survey the younger boy, taking in his expression. "You could have easily deceived me. You don't look like the indecisive type, Sora."

Sora pointed to himself. "I don't?"

"You remind me so much of my friend, you know? You have so much in common with her... and yet..." She trailed off, looking at the rain bathing the glass door from outside. "You're so different from her. Same differences... different similarities."

He was now skeptical. "Your friend. What happened to her?"

Shizuru slowly turned her attention from the stormy skies to the innocent boy in her house. "I don't know. I just don't know, Sora."

"Shizuru..."

There was a sudden terrifying thunderclap.

"ACK!" Sora shrieked and covered his ears.

Shizuru found this to be purely amusing. "There's no need to be afraid, Sora." She chuckled. "It's just thunder."

"Yeah, thunder that can scare the living crap out of you!" Sora retorted, thinking that he now looked like a total wuss in front of Shizuru.

"Ara... You're right about that. It looks like this storm is going to hang around for a few hours." She stated and then she stretched and yawned with a hand over her mouth. "As for me, I'm going to my room to catch a few winks. You're welcomed to stay as long as you want." She waved and headed up the stairs afterwards.

"Thanks a lot." Sora replied, grateful. "I really appreciate it." After Shizuru was out of sight. He took one last look at the small portraits on the table and thought about how could life be from where she from. _I guess she's a little homesick. Moving away from your birthplace can do that to a person._ He though about turning on the gigantic television set to tune in some music videos but he too found out that he was a little drained.

He yawned. _Maybe I need to take a nap, myself. That doesn't sound like bad idea._

Moments later he dozed off to sleep.

**KINGDOM HEARTS**

"_The time has finally come..."_

Sora stirred in his sleep, disturbed. It was that voice again, the same one he heard in many recent dreams. "_Sora..."_

He slowly opened his eyes, this time he actually thought that he was hearing the voice for real. "_Awaken, Key of Destiny... confront them. Confront the darkness."_

Sora sat up in the couch, trying to ignore the voice in his head. Maybe he was still dreaming? "Darn it..." He grumbled. "It's that weird dream again." He shook himself to fight off the lethargy in his body and stood up, yawning widely. With a satisfied smirk, he was ready to go. It seems that the storm had passed over as well. "It's over. That's good news. I need to give my mom a call so I can let her know that I'm on my way."

Just as he was about to use his cell phone, the voice filled the air again, frighteningly enough it was real. "_Sora, beware... they're after you."_

Shock filled his being. This denies all logic! Sora wasn't crazy! "What the! Who's there?" He looked around the huge den in alarm.

"_Sora... it is time." _The voice spoke again. "_The Awakening is near."_

"What in the heck is going on?" Sora demanded, totally freaked out by the phenomenon he was now experiencing. "How could this be happening? Am I still dreaming?"

"_This is indeed real, unfortunately." _It was the voice again. "_The moment of truth is now, Sora. Accept your fate."_

Wasn't this something he saw straight out of a weird horror movie? "Huh?"

"_Behind you!"_ The voice sounded alarmed this time.

Sora did as he was told and saw... something in the middle of the den. It looked like a puddle of tar... at first, that is, until it began pulsating and moving along the floor. Whatever it was, it was mending itself into a physical form. After mere moments of it's shapeless state, it finally finished it's metamorphism. Large blank golden eyes appeared on it's 'face' and when it saw the sight of Sora, it started hissing at him.

"It's huge!" Sora exclaimed in shock and disgust. "What is it, a bug?"

"_No. It is the bane of everything in existence. It is the spawn of oblivion; the pure representation of the abyss-- the Heartless."_

"Heartless?" Sora repeated the voice's words, staring at the menacing creature.

"_Yes. Meet you enemy, Sora. And vanquish them."_

The creature suddenly advances on Sora, nearly catching him off guard. He quickly sidestepped out of the creature's warpath and was skeptical on how to deal with it. "I can beat it?" He wondered. "How?"

"_It will all come to you, Sora," _The voice reassured. "_Because you hold the key..."_

"Man! That's just great! More riddles!" He locked his attention back at the creature, highly uncertain. It was still hissing at him. "Well... um... you want a piece of me?"

"Sora! Is everything okay down here?" Shizuru queried as she descended the staircase in a long, extra baggy navy colored tee shirt. When she approached ground level she laid eyes on the very thing that was causing the air of disturbance in the den. She gasped at the sight of the creature. "What in blazes--"

"Shizuru! Stay back!" Sora commanded, trying to figure a way to deal with the creature.

"That monster, how did it get here?" Shizuru said in a frightened tone. Sensing her fear, the Heartless instantly skewed it's attention at the brunette, hissing violently. "What does it want?" After she said that the creature sized her up and sprang at her.

"Shizuru!" Sora sprang into action behind the Heartless and delivered a diving punch on it. Hitting the thing as hard as he can, it evaporated. "I got him!"

"Sora! Behind you!"

"Huh? AHH!" The Heartless reappeared behind Sora and pounced him. "ARGH! Get off of me you stupid thing, you!" He struggled with the Heartless on top of him and he suddenly felt a strange sensation. As it was hissing and clawing at him, he felt a burning sensation in his chest. It felt as though his heart was trying to jump out of his chest, and he starts to feel dizzy. "What... what is this thing doing to me?"

Fortunately for him, the sensation ceased when the creature was brutally knocked off of him. It flew towards the huge television screen and crashed against it-- hissing in pain. Sora, wondering what may have caused it glanced up only to see Shizuru looking down at him... her expression was very imposing. "Huh?"

"On your feet." Shizuru's voice was hardened and her tan colored eyes as were now dull red. "It is not safe here, Sora. We going to have to flee from here."

"Shizuru...?" Sora breathed, awe struck by the hidden strength in the beautiful girl. He noticed a naginata as tall as her in her right hand. Her pleasant eyes even narrowed a bit. "What's up with all of this? I'm getting confused."

Shizuru lend Sora a hand and help him off the floor. "It looks like this is getting more dangerous by the minute. These creatures seem persistent." She pointed towards the glass doors and to Sora's shock there were dozens more of those Heartless things. "It's doubtful that I can take on all of them." She said. "We're going to have to leave for now."

Sora didn't exactly like how the plan sounds but he couldn't complain. "Right. I'm with you all the way. But... what are they? The Heartless?"

"I... don't know." Shizuru responded grimly. "The Heartless are what they're called?"

"Uh..." He was reluctant. Shouldn't he tell her that a voice in his head revealed the identity of the creatures to him? He was pretty sure that she would consider him insane. However, this was not the time to be thinking about personal sanity. "Look! Over there!"

Three Heartless had entered the mansion from the front entrance. "I'll handle them." Shizuru reassured. "Follow me as I clear the way."

"Hmm... Okay."

Immediately Shizuru rushed at the heartless, knocking them out of their way with her naginata. Sora was simply amazed at her speed. This wasn't the lovable Shizuru from far away that he knew! She is definitely full of surprises. What is she? "Sora!" Shizuru's voice snapped him back into reality. "C'mon! The coast is clear!"

"Coming!" He rushed after her, dashing out the front door of the estate. Once outside, they both noticed that the storm was trying to regain it's strength. "Aw man! It's raining again!"

"But we don't have any choice, Sora." Shizuru cautioned, pointing towards a huge alcove on the beach far across the street. "Maybe we can use that cave for shelter and haven. It's the closest place for our safety. Once we get there, I'll call for help."

Numerous Heartless began appearing around them. "Yeah, your plan sounds good. I can't complain."

Both of them made a beeline for the said place of refuge, nearly getting hit by traffic. Once they made it to the alcove on the beach, Sora noticed that the place was familiar to him. He remembered that Kairi, Riku, and himself used to hang out in the beach all the time and they also went spelunking in any caves that were on the beach. "Looks like we're safe."

"Yes. For now it seems..." Shizuru breathed. She sat down and leaned against the mineral walls of the cave. "Sora... I'm so scared right now." She admitted.

"You are? Really?" Sora rose a brow. He took this moment to study the weapon in Shizuru's grasp. "It doesn't seem like you are." He responded. "You've could have fooled me.

Shizuru blushed and slowly gazed at him. "You're quoting me, aren't you?"

Sora held up his hands in defense. " No. I'm not mocking you, Shizu--"

"It's okay." Shizuru laughed. "It's nothing to get angry over." She looks around the interior of the cave, appreciating it's natural allure. "This place is beautiful. I'd never knew that a simple formation of rock and dust could be this fascinating."

"Yeah. My friends and I are crazy about stuff like this." Sora grinned. "As a matter of fact, I thought that this cave was familiar." He looks around the surrounding, trying to familiarize something. "Hey Shizuru, follow me down this way." He pointed to a path the led deeper inside the cave.

The brunette was genuinely intrigued. "There's something you want to show me?" She rose to her feet and followed him.

"Yeah. It's this way." Sora lead her down the path for several minutes and they ended up on a dead end with several graffiti-like artwork on the cave wall. "I knew it! This is the place my friends and I used to hang out at!"

"There are names and burlesque mug sketches all over them. Amusing." Shizuru chuckled at a supposed sketch of Sora's face. "Hey, the likeness of this one is pretty close, wouldn't you say, Sora?"

Sora blushed. "Very funny. We were all joking on each other that day."

"Aw. Don't feel so bashful about it. You should be happy." Shizuru pinched his cheek. "There are many fond memories of your youth inside this cave, Sora. Cherish them for the rest of your lives. It's obvious that you have a place here."

"Yeah. You're right. I should do that." Sora agreed, but he grew cautious at the look on Shizuru's face as she was gazing in another direction. "Hey? What's up?"

"They're here!" She dreaded. "Those creatures followed us!"

"What?" He noticed that there was a horde of Heartless several meters before them and they were trapped. "Darn it! What is with those creeps? What do they want from us?" He was even more shocked to see Shizuru cackling. "Shizuru..."

"Humph... it looks like that it all comes down to this..."

Sora thought that the older girl was now delirious in the face of doom. "What are you talking about?"

The brunette held her naginata tight as she took a stance. "Sora... I'm going all out. Please forgive me."

"But-- you can't possible hope to take on-- WHOA!" The formation of the stone wall behind them suddenly eroded away and there was a violent vortex of wind that was sucking him in the dark depths. "AAAAAAHHHHH!"

Horrified, Shizuru tried to grab his hand but she didn't make it in time. " Eh? SORA!" She gasped in dismay. Tears of frustration appeared in her eyes. "SORA!"

And thus, Sora was consumed by the impending darkness, seemingly never to be seen again.

**KINGDOM HEARTS**

It was the very same place in his dreams. Darkness lapsed as far as his eyes could see. Plus, it comes to find out the he was now standing on an altar. Sora had never in his life been here before, but he was terribly familiar with this dimension. "This is the weird place in my dream. What is this place?" He demanded, expectant of answers.

The mysterious voice heeded him once again. "_Why Sora, this is your destiny_. _This is the Altar of Awakening."_

"The Altar of Awakening?" Sora wondered. "Will I ever return to Destiny Island?"

"_All in due time..." _Three portraits appeared magically out of nowhere. He noticed that there was a portrait of a staff, a sword, and a shield. "_Wisdom... Strength... Security... chose wisely Sora. You're the only one that can defeat the Heartless. It's time for the awakening."_

Finally, after being in this void for many hours, he was going to get answers. He took a deep breath. "Okay... here goes nothing..."

He reached for one of the portraits, sealing his fate. "Riku, Tidus, Zell, Wakka... Kairi... Shizuru... Mom... Will I see you all again?"

**END OF CHAPTER **

**Next Time:**

Sora acquires the Keyblade, a legendary weapon that the Heartless fear tremendously. After the Awakening 'ceremony', he finds himself in a mysterious new world. However, why is he confronting a cute, raven-haired biker chick? Plus, he befriends the most unusual of friends; a mallard magician and chivalrous canine... man thingy. Tune in next chapter.

Natsuki: "You got hell to pay for crashing into my bike."

**PARADOX'S DISSONANCE **

**CHAPTER 2**

**TRAVERSING ADVERSITY**


	3. Traversing Adversity

**KINGDOM HEARTS**

**PARADOX'S DISSONANCE**

**CHAPTER 2**

**TRAVERSING ADVERSITY**

"This is definitely an interesting turn of events." The figure spoke, standing on top of a chapel during the late hours of Destiny Island. "I have to admit, I couldn't have done it better myself." Nagi smiled impishly, gazing over the neon lights of the city in the distance-- somewhat admiring the darkness. Those 'Heartless' were indeed intriguing beings. "I love this place."

"Enjoy this world while you can, boy." A ominous presence loomed behind him, highly sinister. "Rest assured, this place may cease to exist in due time."

"Ah, they're that bad, huh?" Nagi wondered. "That's something one can expect from you, Maleficent."

With a dark cackle escaping her, the malignant sorceress appeared. There was much to fear about her, with her vile face and the foul air about her. Her form was a complete blanket of shadows, unsure if it is her true form or merely a robe of darkness. She had the glare of a demon and she looks like a very denizen of hell itself. "Quit yammering, boy. I want to know have you met the wretched boy."

"Oh, that's right." Nagi fisted his palm. "You mean Sora, right? What's so special about him?"

Maleficent burst out in cruel, mocking laughter. "Why, how could you hadn't recognized him, boy? He's the fabled 'Key of Destiny'. Haven't you been paying attention at all?"

"Sorry. I'm kinda new to all of this, Maleficent." Nagi recalled.

"Humph. There is much for you to learn." Maleficent remarked with a wave of your arm. "Allow me to educate you." The night skies were slowing becoming filled with storm clouds, meaning another irregular storm was imminent. "That boy couldn't have gone far. I may need you to scout out for him."

"As you wish." Nagi bowed mockingly. "But I must ask, what if I was to encounter any of the maidens? If there are any of them still in existence?"

Maleficent narrowed her eyes, spooking Nagi a bit. "The infants from your world? Don't make me laugh, boy. They are merely insects underneath my feet. I can discard them with a mere breath." She tapped her long chin and grinned with a thought. "Let them join in our little game if they wish. The more players there are-- the more fun for me."

"Right. As they say, 'The more, the merrier'." Nagi laughed, giving Maleficent the middle finger-- err, I mean, the thumbs up.

"Ugh. Just leave." Maleficent waved off and disappeared into the darkness. Her voice echoed in the air, "Bothersome cretin..."

Nagi chuckled darkly to himself. "Well ladies, it looks like the difficulty of this game has turned up a notch hasn't it? I'm not even sure that they will be prepared for things to come."

**KINGDOM HEARTS**

"So, you're saying Sora's on a journey Ms. Branford?" Shizuru queried the older woman, a sheet draped around her shoulders and sipping hot tea. She still couldn't believe that she shed a tear or two when Sora was seeming pulled into oblivion. "Is he going to be okay? I honestly thought that he was lost forever back at the cave."

Terra sat at the terrace of the Viola estate, seemingly ambivalent. "Yes, that's right." She confirmed. "He was destined to do this. But I'm beginning to worry for him." That statement startled Shizuru. "He may be the chosen one, but he seems inadequate for the journey ahead of him. Sora's a bit too young..."

Shizuru's expression grew concerned. "Those beings... they're horrible. Are you sure he can prevail over countless armies of them?"

"Ah... we shall see." Terra sighed. "I have faith in him."

"The Heartless... I've seen them before." Shizuru revealed. "They raided my home unexpectedly. Researchers there thought that they were a mere phenomena, but they were wrong. They hailed from the darkness and completely reduced our world to nonexistence in a matter of days."

"So you've encountered them before." Terra noted. "I'm terribly sorry for what happened to your world. I see now that I'm not the only one that took refuge in this world. The Heartless devour my abode as well. Fortunately, there will be a time of reckoning."

Shizuru's eyes widened. "You're from another world, too?"

There was a ghost of a smirk on Terra's face. "I guess the universe isn't that big after all."

Shizuru, admittedly, had to giggle about the pun. "Destiny Island: The Foster Home for Aliens."

Terra regained the issue. "Speaking of aliens, if Sora has obtained that weapon by now the Heartless will be pursuing him relentlessly-- marching their way to their doom like moths to a flame. This may very well be good news for us."

"Hmm... what do you mean, Ms. Terra? What is this weapon that you speak of?"

"The Heartless fear it-- they are so afraid of it that they would desperately pursue the person that wields it." Terra revealed to her, brandishing a mysterious weapon out of nowhere. "I was supposed to confront them, and rid the cosmos of them as well, but I was afraid..."

Shizuru surveyed the strange, key-shaped 'sword'. "That's the weapon that you used against them in the cave. You saved me from them, but how could you wield it if Sora's fated to use it?" She nodded in confusion. "I'm afraid that I'm bewildered now."

Terra gazed at the KeyBlade in her grasp, her face full of worry. "Even I don't know that. The KeyBlade is just as mysterious to me now as to when I first obtained it. One thing I learned was that once I wielded it, the fate of many worlds were upon my shoulders... and I..."

"Ms. Terra?..."

She rested a hand over her chest. "I was scared of it... deathly. I couldn't bear such a burden."

Shizuru tilted her head to the left, studying the KeyBlade in wonder. "The KeyBlade..."

Sora's homeroom teacher gazed at the dark skies, the clouds slowly recollecting themselves. "Lets just hope that Sora can defend the world better than I could. There is much for him to learn."

**KINGDOM HEARTS**

"The King's letter said that the Key should be around here by now." A mallard groused rather impatiently. "Darn it! We've been here for hours and there is still no sign of him."

"Gawrsh. Maybe we should search for the Key a bit harder once we leave the cafe," A strange man-dog being suggested. "The King wouldn't want us to be givin' up on our mission, Donald. This is a pretty big place but I believe we can pull it off."

"This is turning to be one big wild goose chase!" Donald nodded. "And if that weren't bad enough, the King suddenly left the castle without telling any of us where he is heading."

"It looks like all we can do is to trust the King on this," said Goofy. "There's bound t'be a reason why he's on a quest."

Donald, frankly, didn't really care. He was just ready to find this 'key' that the king mentioned in his letter to them and get this ordeal over with. The duck was in a foul mood for so long his cup of coffee had gotten cold. "Oh waitress!" He hollered across the cafe, earning questionable glares from the other costumers. "More coffee!"

"Hmm... and we can't forget about that Leon feller, either." Goofy reminded.

"Yeah... yeah. We find Leon and then the Key, I get it." Donald responded in a bored voice. One of the cafe's waitresses finally approached him with a pot of coffee. "Oh, thanks ma'am."

"No problem." The waitress, a rather mischievous looking woman with red hair, replied. She began pouring coffee into the mug but something unexpected happened: she accidentally spilled some of the coffee on Donald, alarming the temperamental duck. "Ah! I'm sorry!"

"Hey, what are you trying to do?" Donald squawked indignantly. "You're roasting my feathers, lady!"

"I'm so sorry!" The redhead exclaimed apologetically. "I'll get you cleaned up right away!" She went on a frantic search for a damp cloth.

"Yeah." Goofy agreed. "Maybe I should help out a bit." He grabbed some napkins from the table and tried to lend a hand and he ended up repeating history. While Goofy's intentions were noble he too spilled hot coffee on Donald when he knocked over the coffee mug by accident. This irked and scorched the poor duck more. "Oops! Did I do that?"

"AAAHH!"

While that little commotion between the Donald, Goofy and the redhead waitress was going on, a regular customer entered the cafe. On many quiet nights he enjoyed dining here in this district of Traverse Town. The cafe was an ideal place for him to cogitate over recent events and to enjoy a good meal. However, tonight there was something 'irregular' going on at the cafe. He noticed that a waitress was trying her best to help a customer with a problem but she was failing miserably. It was evident with all the screaming coming from the said customer.

"What in the heck is going on here?" He wondered aloud.

A girl just so happens to overhear him. "Oh it's nothing, Leon." She answered with a hint of laughter in her voice. "It's just Midori working night shift again."

Leon nodded, half understanding her. "Oh-kay... but it sounds like a riot is going on in here." He pointed out, looking at the duck in blue that's currently going through a mad fit of rage. "Let's just hope that she doesn't get a headache from dealing with him."

"Just ignore him," the girl said. "He'll live."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to do that." Leon nodded, but somehow the said duck seems familiar to him.

Donald stared angrily at the coffee stain on his shoulder. "Oh great. How am I suppose to get rid of this?"

"Well... maybe you could machine wash it cold," Midori suggested. "Then you should tumble dry it."

"Well that sounds like a plan to me." Goofy chuckled. "But, umm, could you use your magic to remove the coffee stain from your shirt?"

Donald went into alarm with an idea. "Hey! Why didn't I think of that?"

Midori's face brightened at the revelation. "Eh? You're a magician or something? I should have known from looking at your odd clothes." She grabbed his cap off of his head. "Say, how about demonstrating a magic trick for us?"

"Hey, I don't do this for show, lady." Donald retorted as he took his cap back from her. "On second thought, maybe I can turn you into a kitten, or an infant." He suggested, tiny red horns appearing on his head as he grinned evilly. "Wouldn't you like that, missy? Heh heh heh."

"What?" Midori rose a brow. "I think I'll pass."

"That wasn't nice, Donald." Goofy chided.

"Yeah, your friend here is right," Midori agreed with her hands on her hips. "You're being a meanie. You know what they say, 'What comes around, goes around'. Karma could one day come back around and bite you on your fluffy--."

"Donald. Goofy." Leon approached their table. "I thought it was you."

"Hey! We were just looking for you." Goofy said with a guffaw. "There seems to be a little situation going on and King Mickey suggested that we should look for you."

The seemingly taciturn man's interests were piqued, "What's up?"

Goofy thought about where he should begin. "Hmm, for starters; do you know anything about this Key feller? If you do then that mean we're going to have a pretty good card in our deck."

"The Key..." Leon paused. Then a smirk appeared on his face. "It's about time."

Midori was still curious about Donald's profession. "Hey, mind if I check out that magic wand of yours? I think sorcery is cool."

"No!" The mallard magician retorted.

Midori pouted cutely. "Meanie."

**KINGDOM HEARTS**

"Ugh..." Sora groaned as he propped himself from the pavement. "What now?" He looks around his surroundings and discovered that he was no longer in that strange realm called the 'Altar of Awakening'. Instead of terrible darkness, he noticed many towering building that were embellished with neon lights underneath the gaze of a cloudless night with many stars in the skies. _What is this place? Could it be that I'm actually in another world? What is going on?_

He notices the KeyBlade laying right beside him and he began to recall recent events. _Oh right. I was at that creepy dimension and I got this funny looking weapon. Well, it did get me out of a pinch. I took down a whole gang of those shadow monsters with this thing._ He grasped the KeyBlade and examined it closely. _Then there was that huge monster with the tentacles-- but I laid the smackdown to him too!_

After confronting the huge creature, he was back at Destiny Island-- but it was not the Destiny Island that he remembered. From what he can tell, the place seemed empty... it seemed as though that his home had lost it's essence. Even his long time pals were weird as they were asking him strange and irrelevant questions. What was the strangest of all was when he saw Kairi in the old alcove at the beach. But when she turned to face him, Sora was horrified by the look of her. "_Scary... Kairi looked like she was about to die from sickness." _He thought.

Then there was that creep in the cloak...

"Woof! Woof!"

He registered the sound behind him and turned around and saw the most peculiar dog. "What the? You're one of the most interesting dogs I have ever seen." He noticed that he had a name tag. "Pluto, huh?" He patted Pluto on his head. He stomach was growling. "Maybe you're as hungry as I am." His stomach began growling as if it were trying to communicate with him. "Man... a huge pepperoni pizza with extra cheese sounds good right about now."

Pluto's face lit up and there was an aberrantly huge smile on his face. "Woof!"

Sora nodded his head. "Right. Could you lead me to a place where I can get some grub at, boy?" _A map of this place would be nice too, _Sora thought.

"Woof! Woof!" The friendly dog seemed to obey him and he took off in the opposite direction. "Woof! Woof!" He vanished from Sora's sight as he ran around a corner of a building.

"Hey Pluto, wait for me!" He sprinted after the dog, nearly forgetting about his KeyBlade in the process. Pluto was still quite a way ahead of him. "Man you're way too fast for your own good!" He exclaimed but that wasn't really helping anything. When he approached a dark neighborhood lined with apartment houses, a assembly of Heartless appeared before him. "What the! You guys wanna piece of me?" Sora challenged. "You creeps picked the wrong time to bother me. Who knows what kind of harm I'm capable of when I'm fighting on an empty stomach."

The Heartless paused in their advance for a moment and they seemed to consider what Sora said. After a split second, the group charged at him. They were scuttling ominously towards him and they were ready to take him on. "None of you can take a hint." Sora grasped the KeyBlade tight in his hands. "Oh well."

An unfortunate Heartless had the gall to try to jump the gun, thus being the first victim to the KeyBlade. With a robust swing of the blade, Sora knocked the shadow creature away and it slammed into a parked minivan with a violent thud which made it's alarm go off. "Back off! Unless you want to be the next to be a homerun hit."

The Heartless didn't care. They just hoped that they could snatch out his heart and make him join in the ranks of the fallen. They continued to attack him relentlessly-- hissing and clawing with everything that they were made of. Sora knocked a number of them away from him and they crashed into poles, car, and street hydrants. One of them was even shish kabob as Sora drove the KeyBlade right through it-- impaling it.

He was faring well against them, but he knew that he couldn't keep it up for long. Not when he was growing weaker and weaker from hunger. What made the situation even worse, they seemed to multiply when he thought that he gotten rid of the creatures. Sora groaned at this realization as well as his stomach in hunger. "Man, you guys just don't wanna quit," he grunted. "Gimme a break."

Unknown to him, a rather clever Heartless was behind him, well hidden. It stood on top of someone's motorbike and it was awaiting a good opportunity for Sora to leave himself open. Sora vanquished three heartless simultaneously when he performed a spin slash on them. Then he struck the pavement with the weapon which produced a shockwave that battered even more shadow creatures. That hidden Heartless could clearly see that Sora was growing more tired by the second. "Let's just hope that was the last of them... at least for now." Sora said to himself, wiping his forehead of sweat. "Now I got to try and find that dog again."

He let his guard down and he was no longer tense. At the moment of truth, the heartless sprang into action. "Hey! What the?"

The pitch black monster was latched onto his chest like a boa constrictor. It seemed to hiss in victory when Sora realized that he was mostly immobilized. _Aw man! It's that trick again, _Sora though in frustration. That creature was trying to drained out his heart-- just like the very first Heartless he had encountered by at Shizuru's place. "Let me go!"

With as much strength as he could muster, he finally managed to break the Heartless' grip. The monster rolled across the pavement in pain and collided against the parked motorcycle it was using as a hiding spot earlier. "Oh no you don't!" He didn't want to give it any opportunity to recover. "I'm putting an end to you, right now!" He charged at the monster and swiped down at the Heartless-- right along with the motorcycle! He cut the bike in half by accident!

"Oops!" He realized the damage he had done. He looks around the street and searches for any signs of damage. He gasped as he now noticed that he also lobbed off the top of a fire hydrant in his skirmish. There was also a downed light poles and some of the vehicles now had dents on them. He could see that some of the resident on this street was waking up as well... the several lights coming on in many apartments was the indication. _Man, it's time to get out of here._

When he was about to haul tail, he heard someone say, "What is going on out here?"

Sora gritted his teeth at the sound of the sleep laden voice. _Aw man! Busted!_ He was compelled to look towards the owner of the voice and he soon find himself nearly loosing his. At the entrance to one of the homes was a dashing young woman dressed in a white tank top and sweats. She was pretty, having long raven tresses that dips past her hips. Her hair was styled bang-less and it put emphasis on her cute forehead... but it was hard to tell the shape of her eyes because they were narrow with sleep. He could tell, however, that her eyes were a jade green. "Could you please keep it down, please?" Her voice was tomboyish, but dulcet. "Try to sell dope a little more quietly, okay? I gotta head to work in three hours and I really need this sleep."

Sora blushed-- but it was not from the girl's pulchritude. _Did she just called me a dope boy?_ "Uh... sorry about that," he excused, "I was just leaving. I'll be on my way..." He backs away nervously. He understood that the girl could be angry for having to wake up in the middle of the night to some noise on the streets. Another thing about her was the fact that she seems familiar to him. Maybe he had seen her before. "Have a good night."

Sora's fate was sealed when he stepped on a broken rear view mirror that belong to a now decapitated motorcycle. **CRACK!**

This dark haired girl didn't miss the sound either. "What was that?"

"Oh this?" Sora looked down on the ground and picked up the ruined mirror. "Somebody's unlucky. This is a rearview to a motorcycle."

"Hmm..." She squinted her eyes to catch a good view of the object in Sora's hand. "That's too bad. I bet the owner's going to be pissed." Then she yawned. "Oh well. Run along now. I need my sleep." Just as she was about to return to her apartment a expression of realization crossed her features. "What in the world-- Hey! That rearview didn't just so happen to belong to a parked bike in this neighborhood, wouldn't it?"

"Um... yeah." Sora recalls reluctantly. "I believe it was the only one in the neighborhood."

"What?" The girl was clearly awake now and she gazes over in the direction the spiky haired boy was pointing to. "Ah! My bike!" She screamed in fury. "What happened to my bike?" She leaped off the stairs and ran towards her demolished vehicle as if it were an injured child.

Sora was surprised. The girl just didn't seem to be the biker type to him. "Really? Was it yours?" He asked her.

"Of course it is!" The girl seethed. "I wouldn't be nearly driven to tears if it weren't, would I? Kid, do you know who've done this to my baby?"

Sora scratched the back of his head in nervousness. "Well... technically I kinda smashed it," he admitted. "I'm terribly sorry. Will you please forgive me?"

She stared at the boy in utter disbelief. "You? It was you who've done this?"

Sora couldn't even reply to her. The guilty look on his face said it all.

The girl groaned and slowly approached him. She stood a bit over an inch taller than Sora. "Listen you..." She tried a little breathing technique that could help her calm down but that didn't seem to be helping. "You have five seconds to haul off all that you worth and get out of my sight."

She issued an ultimatum, he has an excuse. "But it wasn't my fault!"

"One..." As she began counting, a silver handgun materialized in her hands seemingly out of nowhere. "Two..."

"You know, I think I should take your work and leave right about now. Bye!" He turned on his heels and blasts off in a frenzied sprint. In his mad dash, he even dropped the rearview mirror and it smashed into pieces when it hit the pavement.

"Ah!" The girl gasped and she knelt towards the crumpled pile of metal. "This is not happening!" She shot her glare back at the retreating form of the terrified boy. "Why you! Come back here! You got hell to pay for crashing my bike!"

"No! I'm not going to take that chance!" Sora yelled back, sprinting like a gazelle. He took a turn in a dark and narrow alley, hoping that he could escape her. Just when was about to lose her-- big surprise! Another group of Heartless appeared. "Aw man! This is the worst possible time for you guys to come out and try me!"

He brandished the KeyBlade and prepared himself to take them on, but gunshots rang through the alley and they next thing Sora knew, the Heartless was gone. "Ahem..."

Sora agonizingly turned slowly to face her. She was surely a good shooter. "Listen... I'm terribly--"

"Quiet." She simply commanded and Sora did so. "First my bike and now this. Those creatures... I've encountered them before." She revealed. "Are you in liege with them? If so, that means I'll have to bust you right in your forehead."

At a desperate moment like this, he thought explaining himself to her wouldn't help anything. He steeled his resolve with a final decision and went into a stance with his KeyBlade drawn. "Stay back. I have the right to defend myself."

"Is that so?" She replied, but the weapon of his suddenly caught her interest. "That's a highly unusual weapon you got there." She trained her gun on him again and continues to advance towards him. "But it's best for you to put that thing down right now. You could get hurt."

"As if! You harpy!" Sora retorted.

The girl was clearly affronted by the insult. "What? Did you just call me a harpy?"

"Yeah, I did!" Sora yelled. "Take this!" He swung his KeyBlade and batted a nearby garbage canister to distracted her in order for him to get away. He headed towards the fence at the end of the alley.

"What? Ah!" She narrowly avoided being showered in old trash. Once she was in the clear, she realized the boy had climbed the high fence and jumped onto the other side of it. He was heading towards the second district of town. "Oh no he won't! He's not getting away from me that easily!" She growled. "Duran!"

She called forth a creature-- a huge mechanical wolf. It was of a very articulate design and it was mostly silver and lavender. She mounted on it as if it were a horse. "Duran, after him! Let's go!"

The mechanical beast howled and it rocketed towards the skies. _He's no ordinary kid, that's for sure. Maybe he is an ally with those monsters._

Sora could have sworn that he heard a howl while he was escaping the trigger-happy girl. _It must be my imagination. That girl got me so nervous that my mind's playing tricks on me._ He slowed himself to a halt on a street that was filled with stores that were closed. It seemed as though he had lost the girl for good. He spotted a bus stop down the road and took a seat, trying to regain energy. _Man, my life has definitely taken a wilder turn. I doubt my college years would be as wild as this._

The streets was empty, but all of a sudden he heard a sort of an engine. He looks towards the direction of the sound and discovered the girl was still chasing him. This time she was riding on a... robotic wolf? "Ah ha! I got you now!"

"C'mon now, can't you just leave me alone?" Sora pleaded.

"Not until I teach you a lesson!" The raven haired girl spat. She hopped off her mechanical companion and give it a command. "Duran, it's time. Load Silver Cartridge!"

The nest thing he knew, there was a large canon that appeared on the mechanical wolf's back. From the looks of it... it can do some serious damage. What's worse... Duran was aiming directly at him and it was charging a very lethal blast. "Uh oh! This isn't good!"

"FIRE!" The girl yelled.

Sora didn't even have enough time to react. The only thing that he could do was to raise the KeyBlade as a shield. Miraculously, the weapon was capable of defending him against the blast. But there was a struggle between him and Duran. He slowly felt himself being pushed back by the beam of energy. _Unreal! This thing is protecting me from the blast!_

The girl looked on at this in disbelief. _What is that thing that kid got? The Silver Cartridge couldn't penetrate it? I can't believe this. Huh?_ She realized the beam was gradually becoming a huge ball of energy as it was struggling against the boy's weapon. _Oh no! It looks like it's going to explode! _"Duran, fall back!"

Sora noticed the compression of energy as well. _Can't... hold this up much longer. Shoot! It's gonna blow!_

**KABOOM!**

Sora, the girl and her wolf was blown away from the force of the blast. Fortunately, neither of them weren't injured. Sora pried his face from the pavement and looked to make sure that the girl wasn't harmed in the explosion. To his relief, the girl had fallen on her butt and she was looking on with a befuddled look on her face. Duran was shook up but it was okay. It was only nodding it's mechanical head. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

With her hair ruffled and the look in her wide eyes, she seemed even cuter. "This can't be." She said. "How did you do that?"

He, honestly didn't know either. "I dunno. It just happened."

"I can't believe it." She said to herself. "Did I... just lost to a kid?"

"I wouldn't say that," Sora reassured. "I'm at a loss too."

The girl was silent for a long moment. Then she looked towards his face and asked him, "What do you know about those shadow monsters?" She requested. "Are you with them or not?"

"You mean the Heartless? You said that--"

His statement was interrupted as a stranger came onto the scene. "Hmm? The Chosen One huh?" His voice was deep and calculating. "So this is what the fuss is all about?"

Sora stood on his feet and gather the KeyBlade. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Very well..." Leon appeared out of the shadows of a dark alley. He held the GunBlade on his shoulders. "I just can't believe... that it chose you as it's wielder."

The raven haired beauty stared at him in realization. "Leon."

"Now, let's put you to the test." Squall said and drew his sword.

Donald and Goofy reached the scene as well. "Hey, it's him!" Donald squawked in confirmation.

"Uh oh." Goofy said uncertainly. "I thought that we were suppose to make friend's with him."

_Darn! Everyone's beefing with me! _Sora thought in confusion, but he still kept his guard. "Very well then. Come and get it!"

**END OF CHAPTER**

**Next Time:**

The duel between Sora and Leon is on. But can he really keep up with the veteran swordsman? Later, Sora meets Cid and the others and he further learns the nature of the Heartless. Plus, the gang devise a plan to rid the cosmos of their adversaries by building the Gummi-Ship. Meanwhile, The Destiny Islands are being invaded by the Heartless. Will Terra, Shizuru and the others be able to thwart them off? Tune in next time.

**Leon: **"Let's see if you are truly capable of wielding the KeyBlade."

**PARADOX'S DISSONANCE**

**CHAPTER 3**

**ANSEM'S STUDY: THE MENACE OF THE HEARTLESS**


End file.
